Taking Chances
by delaneym11
Summary: Ginny has just returned from her last year at Hogwarts. All at once Harry and Ginny have to figure out what the rest of their lives entail. Will they give up when things get hard or will they take a chance on a once in a lifetime love? H/G with some R/H.


Chapter One

The sun was just beginning its descent as the scarlet steam engine rolled into King's Cross Station. It was seven o'clock in the evening, and as usual, the Hogwarts Express was right on schedule. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ron stood on the platform waiting for the passengers to unload.

"The train's practically empty," Ron said. "What's taking them so long?"

"Calm down, Ron, I can see them getting off now," Mr. Weasley said.

Hermione and Ginny made their way over to the Weasleys with Neville and Luna in tow. Ron greeted Hermione with a swift but tender kiss on the lips and barely a nod to his younger sister.

"Good to see you too, Ron," Ginny said as she hugged her parents.

"Hey, Ron," Neville said. "Had a good year?"

"Alright," Ron said. "I'm glad summer's here though."

"Me too," Ginny said. "I'll miss Hogwarts though. It was weird knowing I'll never be back there again as a student."

"I got that same feeling when I was your age," Mrs. Weasley said. "Arthur, why don't you send their luggage back to the house?"

"Right away, Molly, dear," Arthur said, pulling out his wand. "Hermione, will you be coming back to the Burrow or heading home?"

"Actually, my parents decided they really enjoyed living in Australia so they moved back. I was hoping I could stay with you for just a few days," Hermione said.

"Of course, you can stay with us as long as you need," Arthur said, and with a wave of his wand their trunks disappeared.

"Are you going to go stay with them in Australia, then?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"No, I think I'll stay here," Hermione said. "I like visiting Australia, but I could never picture myself living there so far away from everyone I know. Plus, I already have a job lined up with the Ministry in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"Oh, that's wonderful," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Amos Diggory is the head of that department," Mr. Weasley said. "Perhaps you remember him."

"Yeah, he's the one who hired me," Hermione said.

"Well, why don't we head back to the Burrow," Mrs. Weasley said. "We can continue this catch-up there. I invited the family and some of the Order to come over for a little celebration of you two finishing school."

"Oh, good, we've been dying to see everybody," Ginny said.

"And by everybody, she just means Harry," Hermione said with a smirk.

Ginny shot her a look while everyone else laughed.

"Oh, yeah, he told me to tell you he was sorry he couldn't be here to meet you at the train," Ron said. "He got tied up at work and he hopes to be at the Burrow no later than nine."

"Yeah, he sent me an owl," Ginny said.

"I swear he has sent you more owls this year than all seven of us received in all seven years at school," Ron said.

"Well, technically, Fred and George were only there for half of their seventh year, and you didn't even bother to attend your seventh year," Ginny said.

"That's beside the point," Ron said.

Ginny opened her mouth to retort something back but her father cut her off.

"We don't want to keep everyone waiting at the Burrow," Mr. Weasley said. With that, the five of them Disapparated.

Ginny was very excited to see everyone when she arrived at the Burrow. Her entire family was there except for Fleur and their new little one, Victoire, who was two months old and who Ginny had yet to meet.

"Sorry Ginny, but this was a little too late for Vic so Fleur had to stay home with her," Bill said. "We're gonna come back tomorrow so you can meet her though."

"Oh, good," Ginny said, excited at the prospect of meeting her niece for the first time.

"Since when did you start calling her Vic?" Fred asked.

"I don't know," Bill said. "It just slips out every now and then. Harry's rubbing off on me."

"Harry calls her Vic?" Ginny asked.

"Yep," Bill said. "When he came to see her in the hospital, we told him the name and he right off the bat called her Vic. I don't think I've heard him ever call her Victoire."

"I bet Fleur hates that," Ginny said.

"No, she's always had a soft spot for Harry," Bill said. "If anyone else had called her that, she probably would've gone off, but she thought it was cute when Harry called her it."

"Figures," Ginny said. "He can get away with bloody murder."

"Did Harry tell you about the tattoos?" Bill asked.

"Yeah, but I haven't seen it yet," Ginny said.

"What tattoos?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Harry got a tattoo?"

"Harry, Fleur, and Viktor Krum all went out and got tattoos a few weeks after Victoire was born," Ginny said.

"Vikki did too?" Ron asked.

"All three of them have been talking about it for a while and with the anniversary of the Battle it reminded them so they went out and did it on the anniversary of the Triwizard Tournament," Ginny said.

"Why would they want to scar themselves for life?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "What did they get tattoos of?"

"It was in honor of Cedric," Bill said. "That's why they did it on the anniversary of his death."

"They each got their dragon from the first task tattooed on them," Ginny said.

"And the date of Cedric's death is under it," Bill added.

"Well, I still don't approve, but at least it's in honor of someone," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Harry's is actually in honor of several people," Ginny said. "He told me that he got the initials of everyone who died that was close to him tattooed in a circle around the dragon."

Just as she finished her sentence Harry walked into the sitting room.

"Talking about me?" Harry asked.

"Your tattoo actually," Ginny said. "Let's see it."

"It's on my back," Harry said. He untucked his dress shirt from his pants and pulled up the shirt as if he were about to take it off but stopped once he got to his head. The tattoo was in the center of his back.

"Oh, well that I can live with," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Me too," Ginny said. Harry let his shirt fall back down. "Oh, that reminds me," Ginny said standing up. "Dennis gave me a present for you."

"Dennis Creevey?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, he wouldn't tell me what it was," Ginny said. "It's wrapped and in my trunk. Dad, where did you send my trunk?"

"It's in your room along with Hermione's," Mr. Weasley said.

"Let me go grab it," Ginny said. "I wanna know what it is." With that she headed upstairs and Harry took her vacated seat.

"So, where's Vic?" Harry asked Bill.

"At home in bed along with her mother," Bill said.

"So Ginny still hasn't met her?" Harry asked.

"No," Bill said. "Which reminds me, I know you took the next couple days off to catch up with Ginny but I wanted to bring Fleur and Vic by so Ginny can meet her. Does that work with any plans you may or may not have?"

"Well, I'm coming over tomorrow morning, but I don't have set plans until lunch. We were just gonna go to Diagon Alley or something tomorrow morning so we can just skip that," Harry said.

"Well, I was gonna bring them by in the earlier anyways cause I have to be at work at eleven and I wanna be there when they meet so it would be before then," Bill said.

"That should work perfectly then," Harry said.

"Here we go," Ginny said, coming back into the room with a wrapped package and handing it to Harry. "What do you think it is?"

"Only one way to find out," Harry said, unwrapping the paper and letting it fall to the ground.

"What is it?" Hermione asked from the couch opposite them.

Harry stared down at the unwrapped present and didn't answer for a few seconds. "It's a photo album. It says '_In Memory, photos and album by Colin Creevey_'."

"It's the Dumbledore's Army picture on the front," Ginny said. Harry and Ginny spent the next twenty minutes looking through every page of the album. The last page was the most precious one in it. A handwritten note to Harry was all the last page was.

Dear Harry,

So far, this year has been pretty tough. All those spells you taught the D.A. have come in pretty handy I'm sorry to say. Neville, Luna, and Ginny have had to use them the most though. They've been standing up to those Death Eaters. If you were here, you'd be proud of them. A lot of people are saying that you ran away, but we know better. I know that what you're doing must be really important for you to have left. That's why we're fighting here. School isn't very fun this year, and leaving the dormitory is scary. Most of the time we all stay up in Gryffindor Tower to stay away from the Carrows. I made this photo album while we've been stuck in the Room of Requirement. I know you won't get this until you come back, and I'm not sure when that will be, but I wanted you to know that everyone in these pictures is pulling for you. Whenever you come back, we'll fight alongside you. With all of us, there's no way Moldy stands a chance. I hope you come back soon, Harry. We all miss you! Good luck!

Your Friend,

Colin Creevey

Harry stared at the letter for several minutes after he had finished reading it and finally looked up at Ginny. Ginny gave him a sad smile.

"That was really sweet," Ginny finally said.

"Yeah," Harry said. "Those pictures were really good, too."

"He always loved taking pictures," Ginny said. "I never realized he took so many though."

"Me neither," Harry said. Harry passed the photo album around the room while everyone else small-talked and enjoyed their drinks. Finally, when Harry's eyelids were starting to droop, people began to call it a night. Harry looked up at the clock and thought he was seeing things when he saw that it was almost one o'clock in the morning.

"Harry, I do hope you're getting enough sleep," Mrs. Weasley said. "You're working far too much. Arthur says most days you're there already when he arrives and you don't leave til long after Arthur gets home."

"I'm fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said. "I have the rest of the week off plus the weekend so that's five days to catch up on sleep and everything else."

"Well, good," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Good night, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said.

"Good night, Harry, dear," Mrs. Weasley said. "I suppose you'll be taking Ginny tomorrow?"

"I'm gonna come over in the morning and we'll be here for a little while so Ginny can meet Vic," Harry said.

"And then you'll be whisking her off?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"I don't know about whisking, but," Harry said.

"Well, why don't you come over in the morning for breakfast?" Mrs. Weasley suggested.

"Sure," Harry said.

"Excellent, we'll see you in the morning," Mrs. Weasley said.

"See you in the morning," Harry said. Harry planted a quick kiss on Ginny's lips and then headed for the door. It was the first kiss they had shared since Easter and it took all of Harry's self-control to keep it brief as her parents and several of her brothers were also present. He glanced back as he left and saw that everyone had sat back down in the living room, but Ginny was missing. He looked into the kitchen window to see if she was there but was greeted with an empty room.

"Looking for me?" Ginny asked from behind him. He spun around to face her.

"What are you doing out here?" Harry asked.

"I realized that you didn't give me a proper kiss goodnight," Ginny said.

"Well half of your family was watching," Harry said.

"Well, they're not now," Ginny said, and a second later her arms were wrapped around Harry's neck and they were kissing, a kiss that would make up for the past three months without a single one. Finally, after what felt like several hours, but was only a few minutes, they pulled apart.

"How's that?" Harry asked.

"Much better," Ginny said.

"Alright, I should go," Harry said. "I'll be back in the morning. Bill's gonna come over with Vic so you can meet her and then we are gonna spend the rest of the day together, alone."

"Sounds like the perfect day," Ginny said.

"That's the idea," Harry said. He kissed her one more time, briefly. "Good night."

"Good night," Ginny said.

With that, Harry turned on the spot and Disapparated.


End file.
